Moses

Although there is no clear extra-biblical evidence, according to the Bible, Moses, the leader of the Hebrews, conquered the city of Heshbon and destroyed all of its inhabitants.

 

Though the Bible never specifically states that Moses himself visited or inhabited the Amorite city of Heshbon, the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy are clear that under the command of Moses, the armies of Israel conquered the army of Sihon, king of Heshbon and the Amorites. In a battle that came as a result of Sihon’s refusal to grant the Israelites passage through his lands, the Israelites met Sihon and his army and, according to the Biblical account, destroyed them and took the city of Heshbon . According to the Bible and the first century C.E. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, Moses led the Israelite army in this battle, and so could have been in the city at its conquering. Later, in Joshua 13:15, Moses gives the city of Heshbon to the Hebrew tribe of Rueben.

Shortly after the conquest of Heshbon, and a few miles away on Mount Heron, Moses is said to have died overlooking the land of Canaan, a land which is now the country of Israel.

           

 

- A.G.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

 

Daniel L. Gard, “The Case for Eschatological Continuity” in Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. Stanley N. Gundry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003).

 

Flavius Josephus, The New Complete Works of Josephus, trans. William Whiston,

 (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998).*

 

Numbers 21:21-27 (Revised Standard Version).

 

Deuteronomy 2:32-34 (Revised Standard Version).

 

 

Edited 1/27/06 tlc